Tech companies are spending big on research and development R D In 2017 for example FactSet found that five US tech companies invested a total of 76 billion in the field last year Recode reported Amazon spent the most on R D by far The eCommerce retailer invested 226 billion in R D in 2017 which was 41 percent more than it did in 2016 But Amazon is hardly alone and joins Alphabet Microsoft Apple and Facebook as big R D spenders Heres how these companies are investing in R D and ushering in the next generation of retail technology Amazon spent 226 billion in R D in 2017 For example last year Amazon acquired Manhattan-based artificial intelligence AI 3-D body-scanning startup Body Labs according to reports from TechCrunch The price associated with the deal has not been disclosed but the news sites sources have suggested a range of 70 million to 100 million Founded in 2013 the software company uses AI and computer vision technology to create 3-D human body models that are true to life and have myriad real-world and B2B software applications including trying on virtual clothing and creating avatars for video games The startup raised more than 10 million through two investment rounds and saw 8 million in Series A funding in November 2015 Alphabet spent 166 billion in R D in 2017 Google is aiming to get more augmented reality AR on Android mobile phones and released a mobile developer tool in 2017 to meet that end In a blog post announcing the news Dave Burke VP of Android engineering at Alphabet-owned Google said the company has been developing the technologies to run mobile AR over the last three years via Tango and that ARCore builds off those efforts but works with any hardware ARCore will run on millions of devices starting today Aug 29 with the Pixel and Samsungs S8 running 70 Nougat and above Were targeting 100 million devices at the end of the preview Were working with manufacturers like Samsung Huawei LG ASUS and others to make this possible with a consistent bar for quality and high performance Burke wrote The Google AR VR software aids mobile apps and websites in tracking and overlaying physical objects in virtual worlds Microsoft spent 123 billion in R D in 2017 Microsoft Ventures the venture capital arm of the Redmond WA based software giant led a 26 million venture round in 2017 in AirMap a drone startup that is the main producer of software that manages air traffic for drones According to AirMap its real-time traffic management software is used by about 80 percent of all drones around the globe Microsofts decision to get into the drone market comes at a time when companies are in a race to become big players in what is expected to become a huge market opportunity for a slew of industries from delivery companies like UPS to software makers such as Microsoft Amazon a pioneer in drones sees unmanned aerial aircraft as the perfect way to get packages in the hands of customers who are used to instant gratification Apple spent 116 billion in R D in 2017 With Apple Pay Cash mobile wallet users can send and receive money from friends and family through their phones Users who download iOS11 or watchOS 4 can pay and receive money via the iMessenger messaging app or have virtual assistant Siri do the paying for them via voice command Apple Pay Cash is reportedly arriving in more countries with users in Brazil Ireland and Spain seeing the payment service appear on their Messenger app Thats according to Engadget which said on Flipboard that the peer-to-peer P2P payment service appearing in the iOS messaging app is a sign the payment method is coming to those countries shortly Apple hasnt made an official announcement yet The report noted its not likely that the ability to send money between countries will be possible Apple Pay Cash as it stands now lets consumers only pay in their home countries Facebook spent 78 billion in R D in 2017 Facebook recently made a play to up its P2P payments cred as other social media and messaging services break into the space While Facebooks Messenger app has enabled peer-to-peer payment since 2015 the latest upgrade sees the company rolling out group payment options for Android mobile and desktop users The new functionality allows users to pay either everyone in the chat group or individual members No word yet on when Facebook will make group pay options available for iOS The move comes as Snapchat and Chinas WeChat have joined the social P2P space Social messaging company Kik also recently announced its plans to enable in-app payments The one thing Messenger certainly has over the competition is its large user base Currently Facebook Messenger sees over 1 billion monthly users globally You Might Also Like Related Items AI Alphabet Amazon Apple AR Computer Vision Facebook Innovation investments Microsoft mobile apps News P2P payments R D Retail Technology wechat